On Friday here, farming was mentioned in connection with everything being connected at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Now, Nokia is getting in on the act with the announcement of a $350 million fund for investments in IoT (Internet of Things) companies. The focus will be on connected cars, digital health, the enterprise, big data, analytics and farming. Presenting the fund to the press, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said:

“For example we have worked with KT in Korea on the application of real time analytics and automated action to increase farming productivity. We have conducted a market trial for connected bus terminals in New Zealand. Trying new business models for smart cities that go beyond advertising and that improve the overall transportation experience. We have worked on providing intelligent transportation on the highways of Germany with real-time hazard warnings and other safety information, enabling vehicle to vehicle and other infrastructure communication.”

Smart cities are found in smart nations and Ericsson, Nokia’s Nordic rival, is making an IoT move in Singapore in partnership with Singtel, a Singaporean telecommunications company, with a combined mobile subscriber base of 500 million customers. Snippet:

“IoT connectivity is an important part of Singapore’s enterprises and supports the Singapore Government’s Smart Nation initiative. We anticipate a growing demand to connect a multitude of sensors and devices in a cost-effective manner… With the early introduction of low-powered IoT devices, this brings us a step closer to 5G goals, where new device and sensor technologies can leverage network connectivity to power a variety of use cases, such as lighting and vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity.”

The common factor in the Nokia and Ericsson moves is 5G — the next generation of cellular technology. After all, if you’re in the network business, you need to get customers to upgrade to 5G so you can make more money. The carrot and stick of the IoT is a clever way of persuading them to spend.